Up to 35 rebels, govt troops killed in Burundi
BUJUMBURA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Burundi army official said late on Sunday that 20 rebels were killed in heavy fighting between government troops and the rebel Forces for National Liberation (FNL) on the outskirts of the capital Bujumbura.
"The army led an offensive against FNL positions at Nyabibondo in Kanyosha commune on Saturday," army spokesman Colonel Augustin Nzabampema said. "During the clashes 20 FNL rebels were killed and 30 machine guns seized," he said.
No government troops were killed, he added.
FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana said Saturday's offensive was in revenge for an FNL attack on Friday against government forces and the former rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD).
"We killed eight FDD combatants on Friday, among them one senior officer, and seven government soldiers. So Saturday's attack is retaliation by both the FDD and the army," he said.
Burundi's decade-long war has seen rebels from the Hutu majority fighting to end the traditional and military dominance of the minority Tutsi community.
Hopes for peace in Burundi were lifted in November when the main FDD rebel group joined the government. Peace talks between the FNL and President Domitien Ndayizeye ended last month with Hutu rebels refusing to join the power-sharing government.
02/02/04 03:21 ET
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
